Hook structure for perforated boards



1966 J. P. BROOKS HOOK STRUCTURE FOR PERFORATED BOARDS Filed Nov. 8, 1965 INVENTOR:

ATTys.

JAMES P. BRUUKS'.

United States Patent 3,289 992 HOOK STRUCTURE FORTERFORATED BOARDS James P. Brooks, Toledo, Ohio, assignor of one-third to William P. Hickey, Lambertville, Mich. Filed Nov. 8, 1965, Ser. No. 506,741 6 Claims. (Cl. 248 -225) This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application Serial No. 359,310, filed-April 13, 1964, now abandoned.

The present invention relates to adjustable supports of the type wherein a hook structure is adapted to be rigidly retained when inserted horizontally through an opening in a perforated board and then rotated downwardly against the board, and more particularly to an improved hook structure for use in such an application.

An object of the invention is the provision of a new and improved supporting structure comprising a board having a hole therethrough and a hook structure which is inserted horizontally through the hole and then rotated downwardly against the board, the hook structure and opening being of non-circular cross section and the hook structure having a tight fit in the opening so as to resist swinging motion of the hook structure relative to the board.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a new and improved structure of the immediately above described type in which the hook structure is made from material having a generally square cross section.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a new and improved structure of the above-mentioned type in which the hookstructure comprises a vertical portion, a rearwardly extending portion at the top of said vertical portion for extending through an opening in the board, and 'an upwardly extending portion at the rear of said rearwardly extending portion, the upwardly extending portion being bent at an acute angle relative to said rearwardly extending portion and the angle between said rearwardly extending portion and said vertical portion is no more than ninety degrees, and being arranged so that the top edge of the upwardly extending section abuts the back of the board when the bottom of the vertical portion abuts the front face of the board.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a support structure of the immediately above-mentioned type wherein the angle between the vertical portion and the backwardly extending portion is an acute angle and the angle between the backwardly extending portion and the upwardly extending portion is also an acute angle, the backwardly extending portion having a straight section of a length substantially equal to the thickness of the board and being connected to the vertical portion and the upwardly extending portion by rounded sections; so that when the hook structure is installed in the board, the top of the upwardly extending portion engages the back of the board and the bottom of the vertical portion engages the front face of the board with the backwardly extending portion being inclined downwardly and backwardly and being wedged against the top front edge and the bottom rear edge of the opening through the board.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a hook structure of the above-mentioned type which is bent from a length of material of square cross section, for insertion through an opening of circular cross section having a diameter less than a diagonal of said square cross section so that the hook structure deforms the sidewalls of the opening when the hook structure is inserted in the opening.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a hook structure of the immediately above-mentioned type whose upwardly extending portion has a tapered end to assist in the deformation of the sidewalls of the opening in the perforated board.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention relates from the following description of the preferred embodiment described with reference to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, and in which:

FIG. '1 is a fragmentary front perspective view of a perforated board having a hook structure embodying principles of the present invention locked in one of the openings through the board;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken approximately on the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 2 but showing another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the first stage of the deformation of the walls of the opening through the board by the hook during installation of the hook; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to FIG. 4 showing a second stage of deformation of the sidewalls of the opening in the board and which takes place during the final rearward movement of the hook relative to the board. a

The preferred embodiment of support structure shown in the drawing comprises a perforated board 10 of conventional construction having a plurality of openings 11 therethrough spaced apart at regular intervals. Although the openings 11 may have cross sections of various shapes that include square, they are preferably round because of the ease with which round holes can be made, and the board 10 is preferably made of tempered wood fiber board or similar material which is rigid and yet can be deformed without exerting undue force. The board 10 is of a thickness which is preferably no less than approximately A3 of an inch and preferably no greater than approximately A of an inch, although other thicknesses can be used.

The support structure also includes a hook structure 12 having a vertical portion 13, a backwardly extending portion 14 at the upper end of the vertical portion 13, and an upwardly extending portion 15 at the back end of the backwardly extending portion 14. The backwardly extending portion 14 extends through anopening 11 in the board 10 when the hook structure is locked into position on the board, and any type of forwardly, or forwardly and upwardly extending leg portion 16 is carried by the lower end of the vertical portion 13 to provide a hook or support on which tools, implements or other objects can be hung or supported.

The hook structure 12 is made from a piece of material that has a non-circular cross section, preferably square, and the openings 11 when the book 12 is inserted in the opening will be deformed to a non-circular shape which closely fits the backwardly extending portion 14 of the hook 12 to resist rotation of the hook 12 relative to the board. The book 12 is installed in the position shown in FIG. 2 by holding the hook 12 horizontally and forcing the end of the upwardly extending portion 15 through the opening 11 until thecorner 17 between the upwardly extending portion 15 and rearwardly extending portion 14 reaches the front face of the board. Thereafter the vertical portion 14 is moved downwardly and the hook 12 is pushed backwardly to rotate the corner 17 through the opening 11 and bring the bottom end of the vertical portion 13 against the front face of the board 10. As previously stated, the openings 11 preferably have a round cross section and the material from which the hook is made, preferably has a square cross section. The diagonal of the square cross section of the hook is preferably greater than the diameter of the openings 11 so that the board 10 must be deformed slightly when the upwardly extending portion is forced through the opening 11 to provide an interference fit therebetween. In order that this tight interference fit will not be disturbed unduly when the hook is rotated downwardly and backwardly to bring the vertical portion 13 against the front face of the board 10, the corner 17 is appropriately rounded. In order that the rounded corner 17 will not deform the back portion of the opening 11 unduly when the vertical portion is rotated downwardly against the front face of the board 10, the backwardly extending portion 14 has a straight section which is approximately equal to the thickness of the board 10. The hook structure is preferably formed so that the straight section of the backwardly extending portion 14 is positioned in and tightly engaged by the opening 11 to resist a vertical rocking action of the hook structure when it is installed in the opening 11.

To further resist rotation of the hook 12 when it is installed in an opening 11, the upwardly extending portion 15 is bent at an acute angle (preferably approximately 70 degrees) relative to the backwardly extending portion 14. The corner 18 between the vertical portion 13 and backwardly extending portion 14 is rounded as is the corner 17, and the upwardly extending portion 15 is of such a length that the top end 19 of the portion 15 engages and digs into the back of the board 10 to cause the bottom surface 20 of the rounded corner 18 to further slightly deform the lower front edge of the opening 11 when the bottom of the vertical portion 13 abuts the front face of the board 10. The tight non-circular fit of the backwardly extending portion 14 in the opening 11 (which is straight for substantially the full length of the opening), the diggingin of the top edge 19 into the back of the board 10, and the further digging into the board of the bottom surface 20, individually and collectively help to resist rotation of the hook structure in the opening 11. In addition, the tight interference fit of the hook structure in the opening 11 resists upward and forward movement of the hook 12 when objects are lifted from the hook structure.

Another embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 3 through 5. Those portions of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 through which correspond to similar portions of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are designated by a like reference numeral characterized further in that a prime mark is aflixed thereto.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 through 5, the backwardly extending portion 14 has a straight section 21 of a length approximately equal to the thickness of the board. Each of the corners 17' and 18' are bent more than 90 degrees, so that the backwardly extending portion 14' forms acute angles both with the vertical portion 13' and the upwardly extending portion 15. In the most preferred arrangement the acute angles between the backwardly extending portion 21 and both the vertical portion 13' and upwardly extending portion 15 are approximately 70 degrees. The hook structure 13' is, of course, made of square rod as is the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, so that the portions 15', 17' and 21 are all of square cross section. The holes 11' in the board shown in the drawing, are round. These holes could also be square, providing they have a close fit with the hook, and providing they are of such a size that the hook is wedged against the front and rear edge portions of the opening when the hook is rotated into its locked position shown in FIG. 3.

The hook 12 is installed in the opening 11 in what can be considered to be two stages. The first stage is depicted in FIG. 4. The hook 12' is installed in the opening 11' by inserting the tapered end through the opening 11' (as shown by dashed lines) until the portion of the hook located at the region of juncture between corner 18' and backwardly extending portion 21 engages the front surface of the board. Thereafter the vertical portion 13' is rotated downwardly through the position shown by solid lines in FIG. 4 to the position shown in FIG. 5 by a downward force on the outer end of the hook. During the initial movement of this rotation from the dotted position in FIG. 4 to the position shown in solid lines in FIG. 4, the front lower edge 22 of the opening 11' is deformed slightly as is the top rear edge 23 of the opening 11'. As previously stated the board is made of a deformable material such as pressed wood.

The edges 22 and 23 are, therefore, deformed into a rounded condition as is clearly shown in FIG. 3, which rounded condition permits the corner 17' to pass through the opening 11' and assume the position shown generally in FIG. 5. The rotation of the vertical portion 13 downwardly proceeds smoothly until it reaches the position shown in FIG. 5 after which downwardly applied force will no longer rotate the hook. -In this position, the portion 15 engages the back of the board.

The rotation of the hook above described is produced generally by a downward force on the lower portion of the hook, and as previously stated stops when the hook reaches the approximate position shown by full lines in FIG. 5. Thereafter the insertion of the hook is finished by a second action produced by pushing backwardly on the bottom end of the hook. During this second stage, the top end of the upwardly extending portion 15 engages the back surface of the board and acts as a pivot point 24. In the position of the hook shown by full lines in FIG. 5, the lowermost portion 25 of the backwardly extending portion 14' is positioned against the bottom surface of the opening 11 approximately midway between the front and rear surfaces of the board. Force is supplied to the bottom of the hook in a rearward direction causes the hook to pivot about the point 24 to swing the lowermost portion 25 downwardly and rearwardly to deform the bottom rear edge 26 of the opening 11' in a downward and rearward direction as shown in FIG. 3. At the same time the rotation about the point 24 causes the front top edge of the backwardly extending portion 14' to move rearwardly into tight engagement with the front top edge 27 of the opening 11'. This occurs because the backwardly extending portion 14' is formed at an acute angle relative to the upwardly extending portion 15'. The top surface of the front portion of the backwardly extending portion 14' is positioned above the top edge of the opening 11, and the rotation about the point 24 draws this upwardly sloping portion into tight engagement with the front top edge 27. The amount of deformation of the front top edge 27 depends upon the angle between the backwardly extending portion 14' and the upwardly extending portion 15, and should be such that the rotation occurring during the second stage of insertion brings the top edge of the rearwardly extending portion 14 into tight engagement with the edge 27. Where the upwardly extending portion 15' forms an angle of 70 degrees with respect to the backwardly extending portion 14, pivotal movement about the point 24 causes a slight deformation of the upper front edge 27.

It will now be seen that the hook structure shown in FIGS. 3 to 5 deforms the lower front edge 22 and the back upper edge 23 of an opening which has an interference fit relative to the backwardly extending portion 21 during the initial stage of its installation. During this stage, the upper front edge 27 and the lower rear edge 26 remain in a substantially non-deformed condition. During the second stage of the installation the hook structure shown automatically forces the bottom rear portion 25 of the backwardly extending portion 21, and the top front portion of the backwardly extending portion 21 into tight engagement with the lower rear edge 26 and the front upper edge 27 of the opening, respectively. In the preferred embodiment, the hook structure is so formed that-it deforms the bottom rear edge 26 and the top edge 27 as it moves into its final position against the board. During the final movement of the installation of the hook, the bottom rear edge 26 is deformed outwardly, following which the bottom surface 25 of the backwardly extending portion slides over the deformed edge 26, and the bottom end of the hook snaps into engagement with the front surface of the board. In the installed condition shown in FIG. 3, the hook is locked or wedged between the surfaces 26 and 27, and thedeformed edges 26 and 27 are caused to be contoured to the precise configuration of the hook when in its finished, installed condition in the board.

It will be apparent that the objects heretofore enumerated as well as others have been accomplished and that there has been provided a hook structure for insertion into openings through boards, which hook structure strongly resists rotation relative to the board, as well as upward and forward movement of the hook when an object supported by the hook structure is removed therefrom.

While the invent-ion has been described in considerable detail, I do not wish to be limited to the particular objects and advantages above described, and it is my intention hereby to cover all novel adaptations, modifications, and arrangements thereof which come within the practice of those skilled in the art to which the invention relates.

What I claim is:

1. An adjustable support structure comprising: a board of uniform predetermined thickness having a hole of predetermined size extending between its front and back surfaces, a hook structure having a vertical portion a lower end portion of which bears against the front face of said board, a backwardly turned portion on the upper end of said vertical portion and extending through said opening in said board, and an upwardly turned portion on the back end of said backwardly turned portion, at least said backwardly turned port-ion of said hook structure being of a substantially square cross section, said hole being deformed by said substantially square cross section to provide an interference fit with the hole of said board.

2. The support structure of claim 1 wherein the angle between said backwardly and upwardly turned portion is approximately 70 degrees, and the portion between said vertical portion and said backwardly turned portion is formed on a radius which is embedded into said board.

3. The support structure of claim 1 wherein the top of said upwardly turned portion abuts the back of said board, and said backwardly turned portion slopes backwardly and downwardly from said vertical portion, said backwardly turned portion fitting into a deformed upper front portion and a deformed lower back portion of the sidewalls of said hole.

4. The support structure of claim 3 wherein said backwardly turned portion forms angles of approximately degrees with said vertical portion and said upwardly turned portion.

5. The support structure of claim 4 wherein said backwardly turned port-ion has a straight section in said hole and curved portions forwardly and rearwardly of said board connecting it to said vertical portion and said upwardly turned portion respectively.

6. The hook structure of claim 4 wherein the upper end of said upwardly turned portion is tapered to provide a truncated section of a square pyramid.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 28,174 5/1860 Hochstrasser 248215 141,899 8/1873 Strong 248215 1,211,992 l/1917 Winter 248223 X 1,419,563 6/1922 Homing 248-223 2,036,884 4/ 1936 Reeves 248-223 2,766,958 10/1956 Levy 248--223 2,926,877 3/1960 Levy 248-223 FOREIGN PATENTS 586,639 1/1925 France. 1,096,254 1/1955 France. Ad. 66,717 3/1957 France.

869,120 3/ 1953 Germany.

CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner. 

1. AN ADJUSTABLE SUPPORTED STRUCTURE COMPRISING: A BOARD OF UNIFORM PREDETERMINED THICKNESS HAVING A HOLE OF PREDETERMINED SIZE EXTENDING BETWEEN ITS FRONT AND BACK SURFACES, A HOOK STRUCTURE HAVING A VERTICAL PORTION A LOWER END PORTION OF WHICH BEARS AGAINST THE FRONT FACE OF SAID BOARD, A BACKWARDLY TURNED PORTION ON THE UPPER END OF SAID VERTICAL PORTION AND EXTENDING THROUGH SAID OPENING IN SAID BOARD, AND AN UPWARDLY TURNED PORTION ON THE BACK END OF SAID BACKWARDLY TURNED PORTION ON THE BACKWARDLY TURNED PORTION OF SAID HOOK STRUCTURE BEING OF A SUBSTANTIALLY SQUARE CROSS SECTION, SAID HOLE BEING DEFORMED BY SAID SUBSTANTIALLY SQUARE CROSS SECTION TO PROVIDE AN INTERFERENCE FIT WITH THE HOLE OF SAID BOARD. 